Yoga provides health benefits to older women prone to Alzheimer’s

According to a study by UCLA Health, Kundalini yoga is beneficial for older women who had risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and were concerned about episodes of memory deterioration.
Using a type of MRI that measures activity in regions and subregions of the brain, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behaviour researchers discovered that Kundalini yoga, which combines movement and meditation and focuses on breathing, mantra recitation, and mental visualisation, increased connectivity in an area of the brain that can be impacted by stress and is associated with memory decline.
UCLA researchers, led by psychiatrist Dr. Helen Lavretsky, studied the effects of yoga compared to the gold-standard approach of memory enhancement training (MET) on connectivity in subregions of the hippocampus, a critical area of the brain for learning and memory.
“Kundalini yoga training appears to better target stress-related hippocampal connectivity, whereas MET may better target sensory-integration subregions of the hippocampus, supporting better memory reliability,” said Lavretsky, director of the Late-Life Mood, Stress, and Wellness Research Program.
“The key takeaway is that this study adds to the literature supporting the benefits of yoga for brain health, especially for women who have greater perceived stress and subjective memory impairment,” she said, adding, “This gentle form of yoga, which focuses more on breathing and mental engagement than on movement, like other forms of yoga, is ideal for older adults who may have some physical limitations.”
Based on their findings, the yoga “training may better target hippocampal subregion connectivity impacted by stress, which may aid in processing information, including facial information, into memory,” the authors said, adding, “the observed greater increased connectivity between anterior and posterior hippocampal subregions with KY KK training than with MET may suggest superior long-term neuroprotective benefits in terms of vulnerable hippocampal connections critical to episodic memory with KY KK training.”